3/4 of the way there...

What an adventure yesterday's ride turned out to be. The first 30km or so to Samas beach proved to be no sweat as I pedaled out of the city in the early hours of the morning (at 0530 to be exact!).

How is Samas? Well.. It was one hell of a sad place compared to Parangtritis. And certainly enough to deter me from bothering to stray off the main roads to look at the other beaches on the southern coastline.

The conditions of the road were pretty nice, long straight stretches through the miles of rice fields, except for the portion where I seemed to be on an unmarked (yet tarred) road immediately after leaving Samas (you can see this portion on the map). I was in for a rude shock after cresting a small incline... the road suddenly ended and gave way to a steep downslope trail strewn with rocks of all sizes. Now, when one is on skinny road tyres that is so not the surface to be cycling on. Thankfully I did not shred the tyre or get a pinch flat as I rocketed down the slope while trying to stop and not lock up the brakes or break the bike or crash or any of the above combination.

At the huge bridge at Srandakan, I was faced with a dilemma on whether to push on or turn back, as by now the weather was becoming rather hot and I was woefully aware of a stomach that was crying out for proper food (and not fruitbars!)... If I turned back at this point and followed the same route back, I would just touch 100km. Unfortunately, I had a misplaced desire to try an achieve my first century (100miles or 160km) today.

Still not properly dialed into the bike at this point of time... the knee voiced its concerns as I passed the bridge at Glagah. Thus ending the push for the day and making a slow cycle back home. If only there is a professional here to help me fit the bike. The slow method of making an adjustment, riding, making an adjustment again, riding is surely going to end up taking a long time.

Got to be more progressive as I pile on the distance I think... century it is not, but at least I made 3/4 of it :P

Outbound Route

Homeward Route